Michigan governor Rick Snyder apologizes for Flint water crisis

January 19, 2016 / 11:19 PM
/ CBS/AP

LANSING, Mich. -- Only a year ago, Rick Snyder began his second term as Michigan governor promoting the same achievements that had propelled him to victory in 2014: The state was at last in the midst of an economic comeback, and Detroit had emerged from bankruptcy.

With the water crisis gripping Flint now threatening to overshadow nearly everything else he has accomplished, the Republican governor again pledged a fix during his annual State of the State speech Tuesday night.

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"We are praying for you, we are working hard for you and we are absolutely committed to taking the right steps to effectively solve this crisis," he said. "To you, the people of Flint, I say tonight as I have before: I am sorry, and I will fix it."

He also revealed his appeal of President Barack Obama's denial of a federal disaster declaration for the area, and his aides pledged that, by the end of the week, officials would visit every household in Flint to ensure they have water filters. On Saturday, the president did sign an emergency declaration for Flint, clearing the way for the city to receive federal aid.

Snyder devoted much of his 49-minute evening address to the GOP-led Legislature to the disaster as hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside the Capitol. Many of his other priorities were shelved from the speech due to the crisis, though he did address the mounting financial problems in Detroit's state-overseen school district. Snyder, whose office is exempt from public-records requests, plans to release his 2014 and 2015 emails on Wednesday.

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He outlined a timeline of the "catastrophe" dating to 2013, and blamed it on failures at the federal, state and local level, but also said: "I let you down. You deserve better. You deserve accountability. You deserve to know the buck stops here with me."

The images of an impoverished city where no one dares to drink the water have put Snyder on the defensive and forced him to step up his efforts to help. The governor, who previously apologized for regulatory failures and for an underwhelming initial response, has rejected calls for his resignation and said he received incorrect information from two state agencies.

In recent weeks, he declared a state of emergency, pledged more state funding, activated about 70 National Guardsmen to help distribute lead tests, filters and bottled water, and successfully sought $5 million in federal assistance. But to many people, those steps took way too long.

The new round of funding announced Tuesday, which requires approval from the GOP-led Legislature, is intended as another short-term step while Snyder works to get a better handle on the long-range costs. He plans to make a bigger request in his February budget proposal.

The $28 million would pay for more filters, bottled water, school nurses, intervention specialists, testing and monitoring. It also would replace plumbing fixtures in schools with lead problems and could help Flint with unpaid water bills.

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The crisis began in 2014 when a state-appointed emergency manager switched Flint from Detroit water to Flint River water to save money. The corrosive water caused lead to leach from old pipes. Flint returned to the Detroit system in October after elevated lead levels were discovered in children.

"There's real danger that the injury is going to be permanent and lifelong in them," Dr. Philip Landrigan, Dean of Global Health at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, told CBS News.

"The problem here is, no level of lead is safe," Landrigan says. "Even low levels of lead -- especially if exposure to low levels continues over many months -- is going to cause some degree of brain damage to at least some of the children who have been exposed -- that's a big deal.

The fiasco bruised Snyder, a former venture capitalist and computer executive who took office in 2011 billing himself as a practical decision-maker and a "tough nerd." When he sought the state's top job, he touted his experience as a turnaround artist committed to making government work better for people.

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Democrats have opposed many of Snyder's most sweeping laws, including a new emergency manager measure under which his administration has made budget decisions for struggling cities and school districts. They say what happened in Flint is an indictment of the GOP's promise to run government like a business.

"The state of our state is not strong when residents are being poisoned by their tap water," House Minority Leader Tim Greimel said.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who attended the address, said Snyder's contrition "does not mitigate the crime that has been committed."

The U.S. Justice Department is helping the Environmental Protection Agency investigate, and the state attorney general has opened his own probe, which could focus on whether environmental laws were broken or if there was official misconduct.

Also Tuesday, Snyder highlighted successes in Detroit post-bankruptcy but warned legislators that the Detroit Public Schools could begin running out of money in the spring if more than $515 million in operating debt is not wiped away with a state bailout.

"The time to act is now and avoid court intervention that could cost all of us much more and be much more detrimental," he said.

The Detroit and Flint issues prompted retired nurse Lynn Hier of the northwestern Detroit suburb of New Baltimore to rally in Lansing. She called on Snyder to fire the district's state-appointed emergency manager, Darnell Earley, because he also was an emergency manager in Flint at the time of the water switch.